Christlike Leadership From Personal Power

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Power gets a bad reputation these days.  

Rightly so, in light of abuses of power we have seen in recent years.  Therefore we have a tendency to have a reaction negatively towards the term ‘power’; and towards those who possess it.  After all, we don’t have to look far to see the consequences of power without accountability.  

That said, it is very difficult to lead without any power.  Perhaps impossible.  So then how do you and I You and I use power to lead well and in a Christlike way?  

A Definition of Power

Well, starting with a definition of power is a good place to begin: Power is defined as the capacity or potential to influence others.  People have power when they have the ability to affect others beliefs, attitudes and courses of action.  Two types of power exist; positional power, arising from an individual’s office, rank, vocational position (See, Northouse, 2016,  p11-13); and personal power which comes from followers perceiving a leader as respectable and knowledgeable.  Of the two, personal power is the kind of power we see Christ operating in.  He rejected positional power for himself and for His followers, yielding instead to the will of the Father (John 5:18-20 ) and asking us to do the same.  Jesus gave His life in service of others (Mark 10:43-45).  

“Two types of power: positional power and personal power”

Furthermore, Paul says that Jesus ‘emptied himself’ — He left His heavenly position, emptying Himself of the divine and becoming a human (Ph. 2:5-11).  The implication here is that Jesus retained very little positional power.  Think about Nathanael’s comment to Philip “can anything good come our of Nazareth?” (John 1:45-47), even his identity stemming from His home town left people wanting.   But that all matters little because personal power is where Jesus led from; gaining the respect of others as a teacher, a kind hearted leader full with faith in God His Father, and a willingness to challenge with grace filled truth; while serving others.     

Caleb and Personal Power

The story of Caleb in the Old Testament is a great example of Christlike personal power (Number 14:1-12; Joshua 14:6-15).  This is for two main reasons:  First, Caleb yielded himself in the service of others.   We know that he was one of two spies who wanted to go in and possess the Promised Land.  He was full of faith, and yet his fellow spies did not agree and the people of Israel were in an uproar at the thought of fighting the ‘giants’ in the land.  Rather than arguing to convince them, or going it alone, Caleb relents and encourages the people not to rebel, but to be faithful to God.    This was a demonstration of a leader building personal power, gaining the respect of others in good and Christlike ways. This is an issue of attitude; am I for myself or for others?   Maxwell remarks: “Caleb teaches us that leadership has less to do with age than it does with attitude. It's not a matter of position, but of disposition.”

“Faithfulness, despite disappointment is remarkable in our day and age.”

Second, Caleb was faithful.  Faithfulness, despite disappointment is remarkable in our day and age.  We are in a hurry for satisfaction and delayed gratification almost has a negative connotation to it. 

Remaining Faithful Makes Dreams A Reality

Caleb waited, and remained faithful for some 45 years.   When the time came to possess the land and for it to be divided, Caleb speaks up  with integrity (14:7-9) and confidence (14:11-12).  His speech comes from a place the is personal rather than positional, and it is well received.   He remained faithful until the dream of possessing the Promised Land became a reality.   I have not waited 45 years for anything; and I don’t want to.  There is work in my life to be done with regards to this principle, perhaps in yours too?     

“Are we vulnerable with those we lead?”

The theme in Calebs behaviour is one that we see even more deeply in Christ; a willingness to yield to the plans of the Father leaving Himself in vulnerable and personal place. Are we personal and vulnerable with people we are entrusted to lead?  The truth is that positional power is much more comfortable to lead from; it’s less involved in the lives of others and costs us, as leaders, very little personally.  But personal power demonstrates a Christlike service that bears the fruit of the Spirit and discipleship.

So, with the help of the Holy Spirit I’m committing to cultivating a Christlike attitude of personal power; what about you?